“I’m not so much a nurseryman. I’m more of a collector of bamboo,” said Leonard Daszkiewicz, who has a bamboo farm and garden off U.S. 98 in Dade City.
“When the latest ones come out of quarantine in China, I usually add one or two to my collection,” he said, leading a tour group from the Land O’ Lakes Garden Club around his property.
Daszkiewicz’s collection boasts more than four-dozen stands of bamboo, with some canes soaring more than 70 feet. As he led the group around his property, Daszkiewicz told the garden club members about the various kinds of bamboo in his collection.
The avid gardener also told the group about the multitude of plants and trees on his 10-acre plot.
The pride and joy of his collection is a tropical blue bamboo that he bought for $90 in 2003. At the time, it was in a pot and it was 2 feet tall.
Now, it towers skyward.
Bamboo is a resilient plant, Daszkiewicz informed the group. In 2004, he thought he’d lose his bamboo because of the three back-to-back hurricanes that hit the state.
“The river was in flood stage for six weeks,” Daszkiewicz said. “I thought I was going to lose my bamboo. I didn’t lose a one. (But) it killed every laurel oak tree.”
The bamboo didn’t die, because it’s technically not a tree, but a giant grass.
“It can take flooding,” he said.
In another spot in the garden, Daszkiewicz has a stand of running bamboo. This bamboo lives up to its name, he said, unless steps are taken to keep it from running too far.
He has enclosed his stand in a barrier that runs more than 2 feet into the ground. Even so, he keeps an eye on it just to be sure it doesn’t escape its confinement.
“You can’t ignore it,” Daszkiewicz said. “It’s invasive.”
Besides being beautiful, bamboo canes also are musical. When the wind is blowing around 15 to 20 miles an hour, he said, “The canes bonk together and make musical sounds.”
Daszkiewicz’s wife Noreen is impressed by her husband’s handiwork.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “It’s a sanctuary.”
Daszkiewicz’s extensive garden sits on a plot that is part of the acreage his grandparents homesteaded during the 1930s, after moving here from Chicago.
As the garden club members made their way around the property, Daszkiewicz — a Pasco County master gardener — pointed out his extensive collection of trees and plants. Some yield beauty for the soul. Others, food for the body.
He grows okra, kale, onion, beets and sweet potato, among other things. He also grows giant stalks of sugar cane.
“In December, I’ll cut it down,” Daszkiewicz said. Then he’ll take it to a processor, who will turn it into syrup.
“Last year, I got about three gallons of syrup,” he added
Daszkiewicz uses the syrup on everything from pancakes to rice. He also grows camellias, which add color during the cooler months.
Marie Woody, president of the Land O’ Lakes Garden Club, said the club goes on field trips to see beautiful gardens, and to learn new gardening techniques. The group has 15 members, coming primarily from Land O’ Lakes, but also from Zephyrhills, Tampa and other areas, too.
It is open to men and women, she said, and welcomes new members.
The club meets on the first Tuesday of the month at the Land O’ Lakes Community Center, from September through April. It ends the year with a celebration dinner in May.
Annual dues are $10.
For more information about the Land O’ Lakes Garden Club, call (813) 961-2697.
Published October 29, 2014
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